Cucumber pricking machine



Feb. 26, 1963 G. w. BEHNKE 3,078,890

v cucuMBER PRIcxING MACHINE Filed April 30, 1959 IN V EN TOR.

. eoiegee BY /f [94 MMW www TTNEKS United States Patent 3,078,890 CUCUMBER PRICKING MACHINE George W. Behnke, Durand, Mich., assignor to Simplicity Engineering Company, Durand, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Apr. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 810,067 2 Claims. (Cl. 14d-56) This invention 4relates generally to a pricking mechansm utilized for piercing vegetables and fruits of various kinds, and more particularly to a machine for pricking and piercing individual green and/ or salted pickles prior to brining or other pickling operations.

One of the prime objects of the invention is to design a very simple, practical and efficient pricking mechanism over which the vegetables to be treated must travel as the pricking mechanism is gyrated to agitate and roll the vegetables so that the entire outer surface of the pickle is pierced as it travels over said mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to design a pricking panel and machine formed with pricking beds or areas onto which the pickles or vegetables are fed, and over which they travel, said panel being formed with spaced apart transposed disposed smooth spaces or corridors between the pricking beds, said corridors permitting the pickles or vegetables to freely roll as -they travel from one bed to another, insuring complete exposure of the entire outer skin of the pickle to the pricking means as the pickles travel through the machine.

A fur-ther object is to provide a simple and eicient high production pricking unit over which the pickles or vegetables travel, and by means of which the pickles are pierced, rolled and agitated, so that the brine enters the pickles thro-ugh these small openings in the skin, thus, completely and uniformly treating and exposing the entire area of the pickle -to the brine during the brining process.

A still further object is to design an easily cleaned panel and piercing mechanism which serves to perforate and convey the pickles being treated, and provide means intermediate the length of ythe pricking beds to retard the conveying action of the pickles trapped therein until they are forced onto the adjacent pricking bed Iby the pickles on the preceding bed.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, yit being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, properties, and minor details of construction, without departing from the spirit, or sacricing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a conventional gyrating machine with my pricking panel mounted in position therein. The side wall being broken away to more clearly show the panel.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan foreshortened view of the pricking panel.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional View of the panel taken on ythe line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, edge elevational view of the panel and pricking staples.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings in which is shown the preferred embodiment o-f my invention. The letter H indicates a gyrating machine of the general design shown in Patent No. 2,311,814, dated February 23, 1943 and wherein is provided a main frame F on which the gyrating mechanism H is mounted, said mechanism including an offset oscillating or gyrating shaft mounted on bearings 1=1 secured on the frame F. Spaced apart, connected side plates 12 are mounted on .the shaft 10, and inclined panel supporting side rails 14 are secured to the side plates, and the pricking panel P is mounted on said side rails and is secured thereto in any desired manner.

This pricking panel P is preferably formed of fiberglass 15 for sanitary purposes and -to permit easy washing and cleaning, it covers the entire area between the side plates 12 and an inclined plate 16 is provided at -the head end of the machine and over which the product travels as the machine is driven.

A motor M is mounted on the frame in the usual manner and is connected to a suitable source of power, and a belt 17 drivingly connects the motor with a pulley 118 provided on the oscillating shaft 10, so that the frame F will be gyrated as the machine is driven.

Snubbers S are mounted on the corners of the main frame and are connected to brackets 19 provided on the side plates for resiliently supporting ythe ends of the gyrating frame.

'I'he panel can be made up in sections or in one oontinuous strip as desired, and is preferably formed of fiberglass with a plurality of staples 20 molded in the panel in a spaced relation, these staples being formed of stainless steel with ithe upstanding leg ends terminating in sharp points over which the pickles travel as the frame is gyrated.

The screen is ldriven at approximately 1200 r.p.m. so that the ends of the staples will scribe about a 1A inch circle, due yto this action, the projecting legs of the staples will be driven into the pickles or vegetables about Ms inch.

As the pickles are fed to the machine, the gyrating action forces the pickles ahead, the rate of flow or travel depending on the angle of the panel, which can be anywhere from 0 to 15.

Each panel is provided with spaced apart areas A in which -the staples 20 are mounted in uniformly spaced relation, the space as corridor C between these areas being entirely smooth, and as the pickles iiow downwardly the gyrating action moves the pickles across these pricking areas and thence into the space C, where they are free to roll and assume various other positions before being crowded -onto the next section or area A, thus insuring that the entire outer skin of each pickle will be completely perforated. It further serves as an automatic feed control, as it blocks off part of the flow until succeeding pickles reach this area, and these in turn force the foremost pickles out of the smooth corridors and onto the adjacent stapled area or bed, and as the pickles travel the length of the panel they are discharged into a trough-like feed 2.1 which leads to a brining vat. (Not shown.)

Stainless nails (not shown) can be used instead of staples, and while I have utilized fiberglass as a base for the panels for sanitary reasons and because it is easily cleaned, it will be obvious that any other suitable material may be used if desired.

From the foregoing description, it will be obvious that I have perfected a very simple, practical, eiiicient and sanitary vegetable and fruit pricking and piercing machine by means of which the entire outer surface of the pickles or other product may be punctured prior to being brined.

What I claim is:

1. In a mechanism for pricking pickles, the combination with a gyrating means including a frame, of a slightly pitched panel mounted in said frame and gyrated by said gyrating means, said panel comprising a plurality of spaced apart pricking beds with smooth, transversely disposed corridors of predetermined width spacing said beds lfrom each other to permit'the pickles to freely roll thereon, each bed having a plurality of piercing members projecing above the face of the panel and anchored thereto. 2. The combination defined in claim 1 in which the Apiercing mens comprises a. plurality of sharppiercing stau `ples anchored in the panel with the sharpends projecting a predetermined distance above the falce of the panel.

References Cied in tlie'ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Luce et al. Feb. 5, 1895 Anderson Nov. 27, 1923 Treat Jan. 27, 1953 Shideler July 26, 1955 

1. IN A MECHANISM FOR PRICKING PICKLES, THE COMBINATION WITH A GYRATING MEANS INCLUDING A FRAME, OF A SLIGHTLY PITCHED PANEL MOUNTED IN SAID FRAME AND GYRATED BY SAID GYRATING MEANS, SAID PANEL COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SPACED APART PRICKING BEDS WITH SMOOTH, TRANSVERSELY DISPOSED CORRIDORS OF PREDETERMINED WIDTH SPACING SAID BEDS FROM EACH OTHER TO PERMIT THE PICKLES TO FREELY ROLL THEREON, EACH BED HAVING A PLURALITY OF PIERCING MEMBERS PROJECTING ABOVE THE FACE OF THE PANEL AND ANCHORED THERETO. 